Buffer for vehicles



Dec. 3 H924.

- Y M. FREEDMAN BUFFER FOR VEHICLES Filed Aug. 4. 1924 Z77/ve72/t07": flax Fraedwwv.

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MAX FBEEDMAN, OLE BOSTON,.MASSACH USETTS.

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Application filed August 4, 1924. Serial No. 729,928.

To all whom it may concern.-

Be it known that i, Max llnnuDMAN, a citizen of the United States oi: America, and resident of Boston, Roxbury, in the county of 'S'ullOlk-and Stateoi Massachusetts, have effects of collision.

Principal objects of the invention are to provide a buffer or shock absorber of compact, and yet highly efficicnt and resilient type which may be manufactured largely from standard materials relatively low cost; to provide a buli'er device which may readily be attached to avehicle without substantial change in or modification of the latter; to-provide a'butier device which is resilient when subjected to tension as well. as

a to compression so that it may be employed as an elastic towing device; to providea buder which may, without substantial changein design or in the parts em loycd be made in large or small SIZES and .iavi'ng more or less resiliency; and to provide a 'builer device having interchangeable elements which may readily be replaced when worn or broken. Y I

In the accompanying drawings a preerred embodiment of the invention is illustrated by way of exam le:

Fig. 1 being a side'e evation of an automobile having the improved boiler device mounted at both its front and rear ends Fig. 2 is a vertical section through the louder device, to a larger scale, showing one of the supporting plateswith. some ofits s ring j'carrier bars. partially withdrawn; to illustrate thenmde' of application of the springs; o Fig. 3 is a plan view of thebufier with a part of the outer casing broken away to show the internal construction, the springs being shown in their normal, position;

Fig.4 is an end elevation of the buffer, with the casing cut away andshown in section, illustrating the position of the parts when u e a eavy blow from the 'b la v N Fig. 5 is a fragmentary section on the line 5-5 of Fig. 3, showing the mode of connecting the springs to the relatively movablesupporting plates of the buffer device; and

- Fig. 6 is a fragmentar edge elevation of one of the. spring carrier are.

Referring to the drawm s the numeral 1 indicates an automobile oi any usual constructlon having the front and rear axles 2 and 3 respectively and the wheels 1 and 5] I The numerals 6 and 6 ropectivelv indicate generally buffer devices embo an the present invention mounted upon the front v and rear ends of the automobile. Referring particularly to Figs. land 5 the improved butler comprises a support,- 7 preferably in the form ot a relatively thick plate provided at its opposite vertical edges with brackets 8 by means of which it. may be secured to the frame structure of the vehicle upon which it is to be mounted. Spaced from the opposite sides of the plate 7 are composite impact members comprising the outer plates 9 and 10 respectively-and the inner supporting plates 11 and 12. The plates 9 and 11 and the plates 10 and 12 may e secured together if desired in any suitable manner, the securing "means not being shown. One or more additional plates-tor example, the plates 13 and 14 may, if'desired, be interposed between the'respective impact members and the central supporting plate 7.. The impact members, as Well as the intermediate plates 13 and 14, are sub.-

stantially parallel to the supporting plate 7 and the several plates are held in proper. relationship and guided inthcir movements by means of a plurality of guide rods or bolts 15 whose opposite ends are engaged by nuts 16 and 17 respectively ,disposed 'between the outer plates9 and-- 10 and the co operatin inner plates 11 and 12 respecy-- e ly, the outer plate 9 and 5 100' 1O respectivel of the impact members are furnished wit recesses 18 for the recs tion of the threaded ends of the rods 15 an the nuts 16 and 17. The rods 15 p'assthrough aligned openings in the intermediate plates preferably with a sliding fit'in said openmgs. a a The opposed faces of each pair of adjacentplates, for example, the plates 12jand v 1.4 arefprovided with parallel undercut slots 19 pro rably-o't dovetail cross section; The

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slots 19' in'th'e opposed faces of adjacent lates-are opposite-to each othernudpari 2" i allel. These slots are adapted, to receive spring carrier bars 20 which may be slipped endwise into the slots as shown at the lower part of Fig. 2, or which may be withdrawn.

ed in the slots 19 of the plates.

Open coil springs 22 of the compression type (anbrace each of the bars 15, such springs preferably being interposed between each pair of adjacent plates.

In assembling the device the carrier bars 20 are first'removed from their supporting plates and one end of each of the springs to be associated with each carrier bar 18 slipped into the transverse slot 21 in the latter. The opposite ends of said springs are then slipped into the corresponding slots of the opposcd'carrier bar, and the pair of bars with their interposed springs are then pushed endwise into the corresponding groove 19 of an opposed pair of supporting plates. Similarly the other pairs of carrier bars are provided with springs and slipped into position between the several sets of plates; After the carrier bars have been inserted in the slots in their supporting plates the ends of the springs are securely held in interlocked relation with the plates by reason of the undercut or dovetail charactor of the intersecting slots 11 and 19 so that the springs can not readily be pulled out of such slots when subjected to tension.

Una or both of the impact members may be provided with a hook or eye 24 to which a tractor device, for example a draw-bar, may be secured for towing the vehicle.

In the normal position of the parts when not subjected tostross, the springs all occupy substantially like positions as shown in Fig. 3 with their coils open. If the vehicle collides with another the shock is received by the outer impact member and causes compression of all of the springs between the said member and central support 7. At the same time the movement of the bars longitudinally through the support 7' causes the rear impact member to recede from thesu )port 7, thus tensioning all of the springs between it and said support. Thus all of the springs in the device are stressed simultaneously when the device is subject to impact. Similarly if a tractor element, such as a draw-baig be attached to the member 24 any pull exerted thereon is borne by all of the springs of the device, some of such springs acting under compres sion and others under tension.

It at any time any of the springs are broken orlose their resiliency they may y T teeters readily be removed by withdrawing the par-- ticular pair of carrier bars to which they are secured and after replacement or the springs the carried bars may be re turned to their position between the plates. While not necessary, it is preferred to provide a cover or casing 25 enclosing the the abutment mem crs' relative tothe support 7.

When employed as a towing device it is unnecessary to employ a long rope or chain between the vehicle being towed and the towing vehicle for the resiliency of the buffer both to compression and tension fill eliminates all danger of injury due to sudden stopping. or starting of either vehicle, thus making it practical to connect several vehicles in. trains bymeans of short drawbars or equivalent devices.

The construction is such as to adapt it to a wide variation in sizes and resiliency without departing from the general principle of its design, while it is highly eliective for its intended purpose when subjected either to compression or tension.

While herein shown as applied to an automobile it is to be understood that the de vice is capable of application to other ve hiclessuch for example as ships, elevators, railway cars, etc., and in fact in any place where it is desired to absorb the shock ofimpact of two relatively moving bodies and thus to avoid destruction of such relatively moving parts.

I claim: 1 A butler device comprising a support, movable members disposed at opposite sides of the su aport and spaced therefrom, said members eing connected to move as a unit, guide rods passing through openings in the support, the opposite ends of the rods being secured to the respective movable members, and springs interposed between'the support and each of said movable members, the springs between the support and one of said members acting as compression springs and the springs between the support and the other'of said members acting as tension springs.

2. A bufier device comprisinga pair of spaced, substantially parallel relatively movable members, the opposed surfaces of said i'nembers being provided with dovetail slots,

a carrier bar slidable endwise into each slot, and a plurality of springs having their opposite ends secured to the respective car rier bars. I

3. A buffer device comprising a pair of 

